MSU coach Tom Izzo speaks to the media about his team's role players and more Nov. 26, 2018.
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, right, speaks with Joshua Langford during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against UCLA, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)(Photo: The Associated Press)

But the ninth-ranked Spartans also know more precision is required on offense after committing 24 turnovers that nearly befell them against Texas, before they rallied after a dreadful first 10 minutes to win the tournament title Friday.

“If we’re not mentally ready to play, that’s when those turnovers come,” Izzo said Monday during his weekly press conference. “I think we gotta appreciate that there’s a lot of good teams out there. And just because a team isn’t ranked, like Texas, was better than — they were as good a team as we’ve played.”

MSU gave up 35 points off 36 turnovers in wins over UCLA and Texas at the Las Vegas tournament. That included 10 turnovers in the first 8 minutes of the championship game as the Longhorns turned them into 11 points and a 25-6 lead that staggered the Spartans.

“I think the biggest thing is our consistency,” junior guard Joshua Langford said. “We’re trying to understand that in order to be a great, high-level team, you have to put together 40-minute basketball games and understand it’s not gonna be perfect. But if you control you attitude, your effort and your focus for the full 40 minutes of a game, or at least as much as possible, you can put together a great game.”

MSU outscored Texas 72-43 over the final 31 minutes, but still gave up 14 more turnovers and 11 more points off them. The Spartans average 14.1 turnovers per game through six games.

“The turnover thing is, I don’t know. I can’t figure out what happened in that first half against Texas," Izzo said. “We had been doing a great job with our turnovers for three, four games in a row. I didn’t think we came out ready, and that’s my fault. But I also thought that the athletic ability and the length of Texas bothered us. We weren’t used to that and so after that poor start, I thought we got better.”

Izzo felt the defense — which he criticized after MSU allowed 174 points in the first two games — continued to get “locked in” throughout the weekend against the Bruins and Longhorns. The Spartans held both opponents to a combined 35 percent shooting from the field and 27.5 percent from 3-point range, giving up 67 points to UCLA and 68 to Texas.

Izzo felt guards Langford, Matt McQuaid and even Cassius Winston played solid perimeter defense. But he credited forward Nick Ward’s improved play against high ball screens and his ability to defend one-on-one on the block as reasons for improvement.

“I thought that was the big difference in the Texas game,” Izzo said, “that we did not let them get in the lane, we kept them out of the paint for the most part.”

Now comes a Louisville team that moves the ball and had an 11-point loss to No. 6 Tennessee and an overtime defeat to Marquette in the past two games.

“I think as a team, we all have the same mindset coming in,” Langford said. “We have to go in do our jobs and play Michigan State basketball. … You can’t make too many mistakes in an area like that, especially when the other team has home-court advantage. The way the crowd gets into it, it’s hard to come back.”

Winston honored

Winston earned his first career Big Ten Co-Player of the Week award Monday. The 6-foot junior point guard was named MVP of the Las Vegas Invitational by averaging 19.5 points, 8.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in wins over UCLA and Texas.